Vista Ultimate KEYs leaked Vista News Discuss Vista Ultimate KEYs leaked in the Windows Vista forums; What is the first thing you should do after buying Windows Vista? Take high resolution pictures of the newly acquired product and post it on the Internet so that anyone ...

[Snuffy]

What is the first thing you should do after buying Windows Vista? Take high resolution pictures of the newly acquired product and post it on the Internet so that anyone could see. Right? Wrong! Or at least if you are going to take pictures of the Windows Vista box and what it contains make sure that you choose a neutral side.
What do I mean by a neutral side? Well one that does not give away what is designed to be confidential information. This is just common sense, but for some users there should be an explicit warning posted on the box, in red and bold and with an exclamation mark that should read: “Do not, under any circumstances, take pictures of the Windows Vista product key and then make the images available to others!”

You may believe it or not, but some users managed to do just that. Take a look at the image included herein. Of course that we have altered the picture in order to make the information illegible. But the Windows Vista product key is in plain sight. It doesn't get any better than this? Do you leave your house or your car unlocked when you leave? Then why in the world would you do something like this to yourself?

There have been cases when users selling software products on eBay managed to also reveal the product keys. And the example from the adjacent image just goes to show that these are not isolated cases. However, even leaked, such Windows Vista product keys are useless due to the fact that they can be used only by a single
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check EBAY and search for Vista Ultimate

[felix8406]

Good post. I wouldn't say that a product key is useless because it can only be used on a single PC though. Although it might become useless for the person who bought the software to begin with. Even if that user already installed the OS, someone else may find a way to activate it, thus turning the PC of the OS rightful owner useless.

[Znod]

I have wondered about what would happen under such circumstances. What a boondoggle the "rightful" owned my end up being involved in. And, so many could be trying to use the same key. I would think the key would have to be invalidated eventually by MS. I am not sure how the "rightful" owner would go about establishing his or her right to the key (i.e., to a replacement key)--except by demonstrating possession of the original disk.